![]() Naughty Dog’s revolutionary 2001 PS2 game Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy was basically sold on the promise of “no load times.” Coming off of the nightmarish era of PS1 load times, the idea of being able to play a 3D platformer on a PlayStation console without having to stare at a slowly moving progress bar for minutes at a time felt magical.Ģ0 years later, Insomniac Games’ Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apar t rekindles that magic. So while we wish there was time to tell you about every great game that came out this year that may just remind you why you fell in love with gaming in the first place, these were the best of the best. In a year where it felt like those annual franchise installments stole less of the spotlight, it’s easier than ever to appreciate the sheer number of incredible gaming experiences that were out there waiting to be discovered. In a strange way, that combination of certain major games getting delayed and others falling short helped reveal the depth of talent in the modern gaming industry. Yet, at the end of this “slow” year, we were still left staring at a list of about 50 games that are more than worthy of being considered the very best of both 2021 and many other recent years. Game development is hard enough without having to deal with the challenges of working during the COVID-19 pandemic, systemic issues within the industry, hardware shortages, and a variety of other factors that have led to some of the delays and disappointments we’ve seen this year. I've heard the Banner Saga mentioned a heck of a lot so far as the closest analog to Wildermyth but w/ a more serious tone (?).Many have called 2021 a slow year for video games, and we certainly understand why. ![]() Needs more events still, the UI could use some improvement for ease of use, & it's not really anywhere close to an RPG to me, but it's a very cool one IMO. I agree on the Fermi Paradox if you're primarily looking for similar full procedural story generation of the random/legacy campaigns. I bounced super hard off of the writing in the first Divinity: Original Sin so haven't made it more than a couple hours into it & never bothered w/ the sequel (& also haven't really been all that hyped on trying their Baldur's Gate sequel either) as a result. Their Shadowrun games were similarly great at nailing the tone of the setting & feel of a good pen & paper Shadowrun campaign IMO, but w/ much less depth to the tactical gameplay & just about full linearity to the stories. Lots of people seemed to think the pacing was too slow, but it seemed very accurate to the pen & paper systems to me (which is not surprising since they had a few people who were deep in the creation of the original pen & paper source game at FASA on the dev team). ![]() ![]() It's a lot more in depth on the inventory/mech load out management & can wind up semi-punishingly grindy to keep your company running & progressing towards the nicer mechs & components. It's got a lot of similarity to the overland game w/ a similar approach to the story mode w/ the scripted content placed inside of procedurally generated open galaxy content. I love(d) the HBS Battletech game, have logged over 650 hours on it. They're all a good bit more of a linear, mostly scripted & long slog than a campaign of Wildermyth though w/ more focus on story & a good deal of min/max granularity to character progression & gear & the potential to wind up spending a lot of time managing inventory. Dragon Age: Origins & Pillars of Eternity 1/2 would be the more recent titles that seemed to scratch the same itch for me. My favorites were usually from BioWare, Black Isle/Interplay, & later Obsidian (Baldur's Gate 1/2, Icewind Dale, Fallout 1/2, most of the expansions of Neverwinter Nights 1/2 especially Mask of the Betrayer). Most of your good old(er) school isometric cRPGs will offer similar party based, tactical, semi-turn based game play, just w/ a different presentation style.
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